Published on How does law protect in war? - Online casebook (https://casebook.icrc.org) Home > Malaysia/Philippines, Conflict over the Sultanate of Sulu Malaysia/Philippines, Conflict over the Sultanate of Sulu Case prepared by Ms. Danielle Breitenbücher, Master student at the Faculties of Law of the Universities of Geneva and Basel (Switzerland), under the supervision of Professor Marco Sassòli and Ms. Gaetane Cornet, research assistant, at the University of Geneva. N.B. As per the disclaimer [1], neither the ICRC nor the authors can be identified with the opinions expressed in the Cases and Documents. Some cases even come to solutions that clearly violate IHL. They are nevertheless worthy of discussion, if only to raise a challenge to display more humanity in armed conflicts. Similarly, in some of the texts used in the case studies, the facts may not always be proven; nevertheless, they have been selected because they highlight interesting IHL issues and are thus published for didactic purposes. A. Philippine Leader Urges Rebellious Group to Leave Borneo [Source: Philippine Leader Urges Rebellious Group to Leave Borneo, by Floyd Whaley, New York Times online, 26 February 2013; available on http://www.nytimes.com] [2] MANILA — President Benigno S. Aquino III on Tuesday ordered a group of armed Filipinos holed up in Malaysian Borneo to return home and said their leader could be criminally charged for inciting war. The group, which is seeking to revive a historical claim to part of Borneo, arrived by boat Feb. 12 from the southern Philippines in the remote area of Lahad Datu in the northeastern Malaysian state of Sabah. The group is led by a religious leader who claims to be an heir to the sultanate of Sulu, which ruled the area for centuries. “This incident involves approximately 180 people, 20 to 30 of whom are armed,” Mr. Aquino said in a nationally televised address. “Having an armed group in Lahad Datu presents a challenge that the Malaysian authorities cannot ignore.” The Philippines on Monday sent a navy vessel to the area with medical and diplomatic personnel to pick up the group or escort them back to the Philippines, hoping to resolve a situation that has complicated its relations with Malaysia. Mr. Aquino said his government had sent emissaries to the group’s leader in Manila, identified as Prince Rajah Mudah Agbimuddin Kiram, seeking to resolve the issue. […] The Philippines has been coordinating with the Malaysian government to resolve the issue peacefully, but police officials in the area where the standoff is taking place have suggested that they are prepared to use force if necessary. “We don’t care where they come from, including the sultanate of Sulu,” Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib told reporters on Monday, according to the Malaysian state news agency Bernama. “They are foreigners who intruded our country and violated our laws and sovereignty.” “When the time comes, there will be no more negotiations,” he added later. Malaysian police and military forces have surrounded the group and restricted its access to food and water to try to force its members to return to the Philippines. The police have set a series of deadlines for the group to leave, but each has passed without incident or a departure. Abraham Idjirani, one of the leaders of the group, said on Tuesday after Mr. Aquino’s statement that the Filipinos in Sabah would remain in place until Malaysia agrees to address the claims of the Sulu sultanate. “Whatever happens, the sultanate is ready to face the consequences,” Mr. Idjirani, who is based in the Philippines, told reporters. The group’s claims are not clear. Those who arrived on Feb. 12 originally requested the right to stay in Sabah, saying the area was property of the Sulu sultanate. But leaders of the group in the Philippines have since indicated that they have broader goals related to reviving their historic claim to the area. The Malaysian state of Sabah lies a few hours by speedboat from the restive southern Philippines, where several armed militant groups operate. Despite the unrest in the southern Philippines, there have been efforts in recent years to expand trade and tourism between the two areas. Partially as a result of such efforts, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos — according to government estimates — live and work in Sabah. Thousands of others are involved in cross- border trade with the Malaysian area, which has been peaceful and more prosperous than the southern Philippines. “The action of these people purporting to be your followers endangers more than just their own lives,” Mr. Aquino said Tuesday in his statement to the group’s leader. “They also put at risk our countrymen peacefully engaged in their livelihood in Sabah.” B. Malaysian Incursion by Filipinos Ends in a Deadly Clash [Source: Malaysian Incursion by Filipinos Ends in a Deadly Clash, by Floyd Whaley, New York Times online, 28 February 2013; available on http://www.nytimes.com] [2] MANILA — An obscure, centuries-old territorial dispute between Malaysia and the Philippines erupted in violence on Friday, leaving at least 13 people dead and straining relations between the close Southeast Asian neighbors. Malaysian security forces battled on Friday morning with about 180 Filipinos, some of whom were armed, in an effort to remove them from a remote coastal village they had occupied for two weeks in the northeastern Malaysian state of Sabah. The Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported that 10 to 12 Filipinos died in the clash and two Malaysian police commandos were killed in a mortar attack. […] There were different accounts of how the violence started. Ricky Carandang, a Philippine presidential spokesman, said it appeared to have begun when the Filipinos tried to breach the perimeter established by Malaysian police. “They apparently tried to leave the area and were stopped,” Mr. Carandang said by telephone.” The Malaysian home minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, said on his Twitter account that “the situation is fully under control.” “I confirm that our security forces have not taken a single shot, but were shot at at 10 a.m. this morning,” he wrote on Friday, adding that the group at that point was still surrounded by the Malaysian police. But the Filipinos said they did not start the confrontation. Abraham Idjirani, a spokesman in Manila for the armed group, said Friday that at about 6 a.m. Friday the Malaysian police began approaching the perimeter and shots were fired. The police then retreated, he said. He said that 10 Filipinos had been killed and that four were injured in the assault. “The first shot came from the Malaysian authorities,” the spokesman said. C. Malaysia Attacks Filipino Rebels With Jets and Mortars [Source: Malaysia Attacks Filipino Rebels With Jets and Mortars , by Floyd Whaley, New York Times online, 5 March 2013; available on http://www.nytimes.com] [2] MANILA — Malaysia used airstrikes and mobilized thousands of troops on Tuesday to try to put an end to a monthlong quixotic incursion by a band of gunmen from the Philippines seeking to reclaim part of Borneo Island for a defunct sultanate. Three F-18 fighter jets and five Hawk ground-attack aircraft bombed and strafed the estimated 200 Filipino gunmen holed up near the small northeastern Malaysian village of Kampung Taduo, Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid of Malaysia said on Tuesday. The airstrikes were followed by a ground assault that killed an undetermined number of the Filipino gunmen but caused no Malaysian casualties, the defense minister said. “The armed forces’ operation to defend the nation’s sovereignty has been fruitful,” he told reporters, without providing details on whether all of the gunmen had been captured or killed. Reports on Malaysia’s state-run news agency, Bernama, showed armored personnel carriers moving through the streets of Sabah State while military helicopters flew overhead. Military roadblocks have been set up around the area to stop the spread of the fighting, and villagers reported that in at least one case they had to remove the corpses of Filipino fighters from the streets of their village. The assault came after weeks of pleas by the Philippine and Malaysian governments for the gunmen to return to the southern Philippines. Malaysian forces tried repeatedly to dislodge the gunmen by force with at least 27 killed in fighting before Tuesday’s major offensive. The current death toll is unclear. […] In the last few days, Philippine officials have frantically shuttled between Kuala Lumpur and Manila seeking to smooth relations with their Southeast Asian neighbor and protect the more than 800,000 Filipinos living and working in Sabah State. […] […] The violence in Sabah, which has escalated into one of the most serious security emergencies in recent Malaysia history, has strained relations between the two Southeast Asian allies. Both countries have tried to stop the violence from spreading. Malaysian and Philippine navy ships are patrolling the countries’ narrow sea border to try to stop Filipino fighters sympathetic to the group in Borneo from coming over as reinforcements. D. Malaysians Kill 13 Filipino Fighters Amid Fears of Wider Conflict [Source: Malaysians Kill 13 Filipino Fighters Amid Fears of Wider Conflict, by Floyd Whaley, New York Times online, 6 March 2013; available on http://www.nytimes.com] [2] MANILA — An air and ground assault by Malaysian forces killed at least 13 of the nearly 200 militants seeking to reclaim part of Borneo Island for a Filipino sultan, Malaysian police officials said Wednesday. Sporadic fighting continued on Wednesday in remote coastal areas of the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah as the police and soldiers scoured rugged territory, searching house to house to find Filipino rebels who escaped the large assault on Tuesday.